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Turf vs Ag Tires

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Rick Swanson
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2000-03-11          13663

I'm about to order a TC33D from my local NH dealer and I'm still perplexed about what sort of tires I need on it. I have about 2 acres of lawn (slightly hilly) to mow and 20 acres of horse pasture (very hilly) to bush hog. I'm leaning towards turf tires but am worried they won't provide good grip when cutting the pasture. On the other hand, if I get Ag. tires I'm worried they will tear up my lawn. Any suggestions?

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bud in oh.
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2000-03-11          13665

Rick: ag-tires will leave cleat marks(tracks) in your lawn especially when soft and turning. If you are not planning to do much work in loose dirt or a lot of loader work turfs will work fine, but if you will be working in all those conditions indutrial tires are a good in between tread to go with. ....

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charlie
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2000-03-11          13668

i've never had a problem on my 1530 with turf tires.it's pulled a box blade,gill,brillion seeder,dick,etc. and has always had plenty of traction.i plowed snow for the last two years with it.remember,you got 4wd.good luck
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Jim Youtz
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2000-03-11          13672

Get some industrial (R4) tires. They provide excellent traction, don't tear up the lawn, and are tougher and thicker than either turfs or AG tires. I you ever want a loader, the stiffer sidewalls of the R4's is highly recommended. Only negative for R4's is that the ride will be stiffer and less soft. See some of the recent posts on this subject. There has been a lot of discussion on this during the past few weeks ....

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turfman
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 97 midwest
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2000-03-11          13673

I mow a 7 acre formal lawn, bush-hogged countless acres of hilly pastures and weeds as high as 9 feet, done a lot of loader work, and tons of other acreage type chores on my turf tires. Last week I went up a hill that was too steep to stand on and the machine climbed right up. I know that the R-4 will leave a indention in the lawn when you mow. I let my dealer talk me into some R-4's with the stipulation that if I didn't like them he'd get me turfs. I went back to turfs after the first time I mowed and left tire ridges all over the lawn. just my 2 cents. ....

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Mike
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2000-03-12          13681

I'm with Turfman,unless your pasture has a lot of sprouts,or you have some big sapplings to mow over with the bush-hog,I would also go with the turf tires.They will provide plenty of traction,and will let your tractor "ride" a great deal easier.Something you will appreciate after spending most of the day mowing your pasture. ....

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Donald
Join Date: Oct 2012
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2000-03-12          13691

My vote is for the R4 tires. I have a Boomer TC29D with R4 tires and the only time they mark my lawn is when a)I turn to sharp, b) drive to fast, and c) when backing in tight areas. I don't need to do any of these things when mowing my 3.5 acres. When I bushhog or do loader work I feel much better having the R4s. I have a lot of stubble, thorns & thick brush in my field. I wouldn't trade my R4's for anything.
Donald ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2000-03-13          13699

We have "Pillow Block" (Bridgestone) Turfs on the whole fleet here, we us them for loader work as well as the usual tractor chores, including bush-hog work. On dry ground the turfs give us every bit as much traction as R4's or even R1's, but without the damage. Anyone who says that R4's do not mark their turf is either a little far-sighted, or has ground as hard as concrete below the grass... We regularly climb hills so steep they are difficult to walk up with our equipment, no slipping or spinning as long as the grass is dry. ....

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Donald
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2000-03-13          13701

Hey Ted, I'm not far-sighted, nor do I have "ground as hard as concrete below the grass", But! I do make a habit of only mowing the ol lawn when the ground is dry! Just takes a little skill. If all you have is turf tires how do you know R4's are so damaging?
I've seen turf tires in mud fill up the treads and act as slick tires. Very little traction. But hey, to each own.

Donald
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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2000-03-13          13703

Donald, I know these things 'cause in the 15= yrs. I've run this company (golf course construction & landscaping) I've probably owned more machines with every combinations of equip. and tires, etc, than the average person would believe..
Besides we don't have the luxury of cutting ONLY when 'the ol lawn is dry', we cut 7 days a week, dawn till dusk, regardless of weather. As for mud, I build golf courses, not chew them back up, you cannot take ANY equipment over ground that soft and expect any machine to do less than chew it up........ ....

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Jim Youtz
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2000-03-13          13717

Seems like the conversation has got off-base. The original question is what is the best combination tire for personal use in a variety of conditions. Murf is a professional turf person dealing with perfect showcase lawns and continuous mowing. Of course turfs would be best for this. Add in some rough field or woods use and a less than perfect rural lawn and the best answer may be different. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2000-03-14          13723

Jim, we BUILD golf courses for the most part, while we do a quite a bit of work on the finished product also, most of the work is in the creating stage. However, even at this stage the foot-prints left behind are important, the more 'tracks' the more work it is to 'erase' them. When we first arrive on the site of a proposed golf course more often than not it looks like an abandoned farm, grass and weeds up to here...LOL...Nowadays the 'in' thing is 'highlands' (old scottish) style courses, very hilly and winding, REALLY rough 'rough' areas. In cases like this we find the turfs give FAR better traction, the edges of each one of those little tread bars gives a superior 'bite' compared to anything else we could use since R1's are out of the question, R4's are still too agressive, it only leaves Turf's or Diamond-backs, and the Turfs win hands down. As for the 'showcase' lawns comment, thank you for the confidence you put in our abilities... Buy that man a beer (as long as he's not going to be operating his machine). ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2000-03-15          13753

Turfs may not cover tire tracks. I think they're wider than ag's, Checking the track width is a good idea before buying implements.

As near as I can figure, my tractor was designed so 5' implements will cover the tracks with ag's. My 5' blower doesn't quite cover tracks made by my turfs. The blower is short by about an inch a side, and that's not too important for blowing snow so I didn't think much more about it.

I ordered a 5' box scraper yesterday, had some second thoughts and measured the tracks. I changed the order to a 6' scraper. Trying to grade with a scraper that doesn't cover the tracks, and then some, doesn't sound like a great idea.

Anyway, I think that having the turfs I like for saving the lawn also means I have to go a step larger for several implements. The dealer assures me that I've got enough HP to pull the 6' scrape. Hope he's right. However, if I run out of traction, I could end up having to put on ag's to pull the larger scraper that I had to buy because of the turfs. Oh well, into every life a little 'DUH' is likely to fall. Cross that bridge when I come to it.

I also ordered a set of 3ph pallet forks, but that's another story. ....

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MichaelSnyder
Join Date: Jun 1999
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2000-03-16          13812

Rick,
I would assume you were looking for everyone to give you the same answer?? Well, as you can see, doubtful that will happen. Everyone has a favorite. Having bought our 4100 with R4's and since switched to Turfs, which I personally feel the turfs are better under many conditions. You need to consider the surfaces you plan to use the tractor on. Soft surfaces need Big Lugs, hard surfaces need more rubber contact. Naturally, wear charactoristics are usually proportional to the amount of rubber touching the ground. (Read: R1s wear quickest). You would't take a mud tire to the drag strip, or a slick tire in the mud. With that said, have you considered chains? If you go with Turfs, you can tread lightly on your lawn, etc... then in minutes, add chains to mow your pastures for those wet dew mornings, or big rainfalls. Your traction in mud will also be much greater. Similar to life, your faced with the opportunity cost of losing something to gain something else. Good Luck :) ....

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bud in oh.
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2000-03-16          13823

Rick: I guess I could have told you in my last post and diddn't that I ran turfs for loader work, snow blowing, planting sweetcorn and other produce, mowing with a bushhog, finishmower, blading, rototilling, just to name a few, with excellent results until I purchased ag-tires.(I switched back and forth as needed) I wanted ag-tires because of turfs being wider and running to close to rows when planting and cultivating. I had 700hrs on the turfs when I purchased ags and front and rear turfs had at least 85% tread or more left. Turfs will work excellent for what you are gonna be doing. Bud. ....

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cutter
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 1307 The South Shore of Lake Ontario, New York
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2000-03-16          13825

Rick, I recently purchased a tc29 with industrials. My previous machine had turfs with a loader and 60" mower. The turfs were great in the lawn and in snow. The only bad experience with them is that they are made to run at a low pressure and flatten out considerably with a full bucket. I went with the ind. this time because two dealers recommended them. I have the option of a free trade back for turfs if I don't like them in the lawn. Seems they are pretty sure of themselves. Maybe that is your answer. Buy where you can try. ....

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